Native name | Kaitiaki Kai |
---|---|
Company type | Public Company |
Industry | Food Quality Assurance |
Predecessor | ASURE New Zealand Limited AgriQuality Limited |
Founded | Auckland, New Zealand (2007 | )
Headquarters | , New Zealand |
Number of locations | 100 |
Area served | |
Services |
|
Owner | New Zealand Government |
Number of employees | 1800 |
Website | www |
AsureQuality Limited (previously AgriQuality Limited) is a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) fully owned by the government of New Zealand. [1] The company's core business is food quality assurance with its services including certification, inspection, testing, and training. AsureQuality has over 1700 staff at over 100 locations throughout New Zealand. AsureQuality also has a joint venture partner, Bureau Veritas.[ citation needed ]. Bureau Veritas and AsureQuality have two joint ventures, BVAQ Australia and BVAQ SouthEast Asia. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
AsureQuality was formed in 2007 from the merger of ASURE New Zealand Limited and AgriQuality Limited. [7] Both companies were originally formed in 1998 from the service delivery arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quality Management, with ASURE handling meat inspection and AgriQuality specialising in livestock, horticulture and forestry. [8] Following the merger the company employed more than 1700 staff at 140 sites throughout New Zealand and Australia, with its primary laboratory in Gracefield, New Zealand. [9]
In 2008 AsureQuality entered a partnership with the Hospitality Standards Institute to provide food safety training for the hospitality sector. [10] In 2010 it opened a wine-certification laboratory in Auckland; [11] in 2013 it expanded its Christchurch food-testing laboratory. [12]
In May 2010 it was among a group of SOEs valued for possible sale by the New Zealand government. [13]
In April 2016 the company acquired Australian laboratory-testing provider Dairy Technical Services. [14]
In November 2020 the company was fined $66,000 after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act over an incident in which seven workers suffered chemical burns while cleaning a Mycoplasma bovis -infected farm in 2018. [15]
AsureQuality Assurance Marks are on-pack symbols that distinguish and identify a product’s claims and supply chain transparency as having been independently verified. [24]
Good agricultural practice (GAP) is a certification system for agriculture, specifying procedures that must be implemented to create food for consumers or further processing that is safe and wholesome, using sustainable methods. While there are numerous competing definitions of what methods constitute good agricultural practice, there are several broadly accepted schemes that producers can adhere too.
The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions.
Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP, is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe and designs measures to reduce these risks to a safe level. In this manner, HACCP attempts to avoid hazards rather than attempting to inspect finished products for the effects of those hazards. The HACCP system can be used at all stages of a food chain, from food production and preparation processes including packaging, distribution, etc. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) require mandatory HACCP programs for juice and meat as an effective approach to food safety and protecting public health. Meat HACCP systems are regulated by the USDA, while seafood and juice are regulated by the FDA. All other food companies in the United States that are required to register with the FDA under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, as well as firms outside the US that export food to the US, are transitioning to mandatory hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC) plans.
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Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.
In the experimental (non-clinical) research arena, good laboratory practice or GLP is a quality system of management controls for research laboratories and organizations to ensure the uniformity, consistency, reliability, reproducibility, quality, and integrity of products in development for human or animal health through non-clinical safety tests; from physio-chemical properties through acute to chronic toxicity tests.
Food safety is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food is known as a food-borne disease outbreak. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards. In this way, food safety often overlaps with food defense to prevent harm to consumers. The tracks within this line of thought are safety between industry and the market and then between the market and the consumer. In considering industry-to-market practices, food safety considerations include the origins of food including the practices relating to food labeling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues, as well as policies on biotechnology and food and guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods. In considering market-to-consumer practices, the usual thought is that food ought to be safe in the market and the concern is safe delivery and preparation of the food for the consumer. Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely related. Unhealthy food creates a cycle of disease and malnutrition that affects infants and adults as well.
The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) is a Directorate and partial agreement of the Council of Europe that traces its origins and statutes to the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia.
The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) is the official accreditation body for South Africa. Founded in 1996, SANAS is headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the Government of South Africa that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.
Intertek Group plc is a British multinational assurance, inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Bureau Veritas is a French company specialized in testing, inspection and certification founded in 1828. It operates in a variety of sectors, including building and infrastructure, agri-food and commodities, marine and offshore, industry, certification and consumer products.
Farm assurance is product certification for agricultural products that emphasises the principles of quality assurance. The emphasis on quality assurance means that, in addition to product inspection, farm assurance schemes may include standards and certification for traceability, production methods, transport, and supplies.
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute (CRI). Its purpose is to deliver scientific and research services to the public health, food safety, security and justice systems, and the environmental sector to improve the safety of, and contribute to the economic, environmental and social well-being of people and communities in New Zealand.
In New Zealand, agriculture is the largest sector of the tradable economy. The country exported NZ$46.4 billion worth of agricultural products in the 12 months to June 2019, 79.6% of the country's total exported goods. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector directly contributed $12.653 billion of the national GDP in the 12 months to September 2020, and employed 143,000 people, 5.9% of New Zealand's workforce, as of the 2018 census.
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NSF is a product testing, inspection, certification organization with headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. NSF also offers consulting and training services worldwide.
A four-tier alert level restrictions system was in place in during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand between March 2020 and December 2021, with levels 3 and 4 being forms of lockdown. In level 1 there were no restrictions; in level 2 there were limits on gatherings; in level 3 only purposeful travel was allowed and there were strict limits on gatherings; and in level 4 only essential travel was allowed and gatherings were banned.
Idaho Department of Agriculture is a state-level government agency of Idaho, responsible for managing agricultural services and policy. The department tasked with regulating food safety standards, licensing, the Invasive Species Program, and animal industries. The department was founded in 1919. It frequently collaborates with the United States Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Land Management.
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